Civil appeals against decisions made by a judge in the General Division of the High Court

File the Originating Summons

• If the value of your case is up to $1 million: $500
• If the value of your case is more than $1 million: $1,000

File the written submissions

No filing fees

The non-exhaustive grounds for an application for leave to appeal against a decision of the General Division of the High Court are: 

• prima facie case of error;
• question of general principle decided for the first time; and 
• question of importance upon which further argument and a decision of a higher tribunal would be to the public advantage.

See, for example, Lee Kuan Yew v Tang Liang Hong and another [1997] 2 SLR(R) 862 at [16]. 

When considering whether to rely on the ground of a prima facie case of error, applicants should bear in mind that this ground is generally not satisfied where the decision in question was well-reasoned and amply supported by the available evidence: see, for example, Virtual Map (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Singapore Land Authority and another application [2009] 2 SLR(R) 558 at [34]. Furthermore, applicants should state and explain how this prima facie case of error had a significant bearing on the eventual outcome of the decision in respect of which leave to appeal is sought.

When considering whether to rely on the ground that there is a question of general principle decided for the first time (“Question”), applicants should bear in mind that this ground is generally not met where:

• there have been other decisions on the Questions; or 
• the Question concerns an application of principles to the facts of the case. 

See, for example, Werner Samuel Vuillemin v Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd [2017] 3 SLR 501 at [47] and [48]. Furthermore, applicants should state and explain how this Question arose from the decision and reasoning of the court below: see, for example, Ho Soo Fong and another v Ho Pak Kim Realty Co Pte Ltd (in liquidation) [2021] SGHC(A) 11 at [8].

When considering whether to rely on the ground that there is a question of importance upon which further argument and a decision of a higher tribunal would be to the public advantage (“Public Importance Question”), applicants should bear in mind that this ground is generally not met where there is a “mere application of [a test set out in another case] to a given factual scenario”: see, for example, Hwa Aik Engineering Pte Ltd v Munshi Mohammad Faiz and another [2021] 1 SLR 1288 at [24]. Furthermore, applicants should state and explain how the outcome they seek in relation to the Public Importance Question also has a material bearing on the outcome of the main hearing of the appeal if leave is granted: see, for example, CLI v CLJ [2021] SGHC(A) 3 at [12].

Application for leave to appeal is made to the wrong court 

You should refer to Section 29A of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act which provides when leave is required to appeal against a decision of the General Division of the High Court in the exercise of its original or appellate civil jurisdiction. 

Generally, where leave to appeal is required, the application (via an originating summons) should be made directly to the Court of Appeal or the Appellate Division. Save for a case where any written law specifies the court from which leave must be obtained, please refer to Paragraph 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act to determine which is the correct appellate court to hear the application.

The application should not be filed in the General Division of the High Court via a summons.

Application for leave to appeal against a decision of the General Division is filed before time begins to run (premature filings)

As a starting point, you should consider whether Section 29B of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act applies to the decision of the General Division of the High Court. 

Section 29B of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act provides that a judge may hear further arguments in respect of a decision made by the judge in the exercise of the original or appellate civil jurisdiction of the General Division of the High Court after any hearing other than a trial of an action, if certain conditions are met.

If the decision you wish to appeal against falls under Section 29B of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, the timelines for filing the application for leave to appeal do not run immediately from the date of the decision. This is to ensure that there is finality in the decision being appealed against, before the application for leave to appeal is considered.

Instead, the application should be made within 7 working days after one of the following events (refer to Order 56A Rule 3(2) and Order 57 Rule 2A(2) of the revoked Rules of Court (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022)):

• In cases where the judge hears further arguments in respect of the decision, the application should be made within 7 days after the date the judge affirms, varies or sets aside the decision after hearing further arguments.
• In cases where a request for further arguments was made, but the judge certifies or is deemed to have certified that no further arguments are required, the application should be made within 7 days after the date the judge certifies or is deemed to have certified that no further arguments are required.
• In any other case, the application should be made within 7 days after either: (i) the time on which the judgment or order was extracted; or (ii) the 15th day after the date on which the decision was made, whichever is earlier.

In cases of premature filings, parties will be informed that the timelines for the application will be held in abeyance pending the expiry of the time limited for a party to request further arguments.

To avoid common errors, you should note the following:

• As an applicant, you must provide security for the opposing party's costs in the amount of $5,000 and file the requisite certificate for security for costs, as required under Order 56A Rule 17(6) and Order 57 Rule 16(5) of the revoked Rules of Court (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022)) .
• Affidavits cannot be filed for an application for leave to appeal without the leave of court.
• As an applicant, you should file the application, the written submissions, a bundle of documents (if any) and a bundle of authorities (if any) at the same time.
• If you are the party opposing the application, you should file written submissions, a bundle of documents (if any) and a bundle of authorities (if any) at the same time within 7 days after the applicant has served the application documents.
• You should also take note of the prescribed page limits for the written submissions and bundle of documents which are set out in the revoked Rules of Court (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022) and Supreme Court Practice Directions (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022).

When preparing the written submissions, you should use the correct form prescribed by Paragraph 90B(1) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022)(Form 31A/ Form 31B of Appendix A) and make sure the written submissions comply with the requirements set out in Paragraph 90B(3) of the Supreme Court Practice Directions (as in force immediately before 1 April 2022).

You should also note that:

• Written submissions should not exceed 12 pages, excluding the cover page and backing page.
• Written submissions should include a party’s submissions on costs. A party should state the appropriate costs order and the quantum (including disbursements) which should be awarded and the reasons for it.